May We Meet Again, My Love

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG Hearing the news that Harper would be split from Monty for the mission, it was hard for her not to run over to him right away and pull him into an embrace. It was what she wanted to do, what she felt she needed to do, that was for sure. The thing that stopped her was the sight of Jasper running over to him quicker. Harper's feelings towards Jasper were confused at the moment but mostly, she didn't trust him. She made the quick decision that she would wait for Jasper and Monty to say their own goodbyes and once they were finished and Jasper was away, she would get to say her own goodbyes. Even with her negative feelings towards Jasper, she at least respected their friendship and knew how strong it was. Her relationship with Monty would likely always come second to his friendship with Jasper, it was something that Harper had always known and it wasn't something that often bothered her. When Jasper and Monty has finished their goodbyes, Harper walked over to Monty and wrapped her arms around him. Her muscles relaxed into the embrace and her chin rested on his shoulder. The emotion she had been holding back while she waited for her turn to say goodbye threatened to escape and her eyes shut as her arms squeezed tighter around Monty. She wasn't sure how long she kept in the hug, she just knew that she never wanted to let him go. It was obvious that the journey they would both be going on would be a dangerous one. Searching unfamiliar terrain for a safe place, they would be likely to run into many different types of danger. Harper couldn't help but feel like there was a chance she might never see Monty again. She hated that feeling. As her eyes started to tear up, Harper pulled back from the hug and blinked the moisture from her eyes. She had told herself she wouldn't cry, that there was no reason to cry. It was a lot harder to do than say, however, and there was a lot of reason for her to feel like it was a final goodbye. "Don't you dare get yourself killed," Harper told Monty, her voice breaking on the words. There was a shaky smile on her face as she tried to keep the tears from really escaping. "Look after yourself, do whatever you can to keep safe. Watch out for the grounders in your group and for any animals or people you come across. Don't eat anything unless you know it's safe..." As she was talking, the tears broke through and her voice shook. She was rambling, she knew that. Monty was smart and he would be able to look after himself but she needed to say something, to do anything to feel like she could help keep him safe. Monty Green || Oh shit I think I'm crying now!

[Monty Green]

Monty finally finished saying his goodbyes to Jasper, reluctantly allowing him to go get ready with the rest of his group but no sooner had he let his friend go than he was wrapped in the embrace of another. Somehow, he immediately knew that it was Harper and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. She was the other person that he'd miss most, he'd miss his other friends of course but not all of them were going on a potentially deadly mission and Harper was different, she was his girlfriend. He felt her hug him tighter and he didn't complain, he knew that it would be a while before they'd be able to hold each other again, he didn't blame her for finding it difficult to let go. He was worried about Harper, just as much as he was worried about Jasper and he hoped that they'd put aside what had happened between them so that they could look out for each other and make sure that both of them returned alive.

When Harper finally pulled away from the hug to look at him, he could see the tears that brimmed in her eyes and he wanted nothing more than to tell her not to cry because everything was going to be okay and they'd both be okay, but he didn't know that, fake reassurances were important when it came to Jasper, but Harper didn't need that, she wasn't stupid and she understood the risks. "Don't you dare get yourself killed" he heard her voice break with emotion as she spoke and noticed her attempt to smile. Monty offered a small smile in return "why does everyone think that I'm going to get myself killed?" he asked, with a tone of mock annoyance "you all have so little faith in me" he was trying to make her laugh, or at least bring a genuine smile to her face but he had a suspicion that she didn't find his jokes funny on a good day anyway.

"Hey..." he noticed the tears begin to fall from Harper's eyes and he reached up to brush them quickly away "I'll be fine, we'll be fine" he wasn't used to people crying over him, it wasn't something that happened that often. It made him uncomfortable because all he wanted was for the person who was crying to be happy again and to stop, happiness was a rarity these days though. He needed to ask a favour from Harper, he didn't want to burden her with anything else, that was the last thing he wanted to do but he had to ask. "Harper, can you look after Jasper for me?" it was a big ask, especially after what Jasper had done to her, but he'd been chipped at the time and had no control over what he did "I'm worried about him and I don't want him to do anything stupid" he couldn't lose Jasper, he couldn't lose either of them but Jasper was the one most likely to fall off the rails, it would reassure him to know that Harper would look out for Jasper.

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG It was difficult with the sorrow that she held but Harper managed to laughed at Monty's comments, knowing well by then the tone he used when he was trying to make her laugh. Monty was rarely actually funny but Harper tried as much as she could to laugh at his jokes. They were something she loved about him, that he tried humor and that he always tried to find something bright in even the worst situations. It was also something that one might expect to see from Jasper, rather than Monty, and the fact that Harper got to see that side of him was a great thing. She wanted to let him enjoy making her laugh, in case it was the last chance they would get for this to happen but then the laugh changed, morphing into a sob. The weight of what they were soon leaving on left her unable to even laugh and she couldn't help the thought that ran through her mind telling her she was weak for it. "I have faith in you, I just don't have faith in everyone else." She somehow managed to get the word out as she cried, sobs between the words. The feeling of Monty brushing the tears from her cheeks was comforting and she leaned into the light touch, lifting her own hand to place on top of Monty's to keep it on her face. "You don't that, you can't," Harper told him as she got her tears under control, stopping the ugly sobbing that made it almost impossible to speak. She moved Monty's hand off of her cheek, placing her palm against his and letting her fingers fall between his. "Anything could happen," she added on. Watching his face, Harper saw as his face changed and the slight hesitation he had before opening his mouth to speak again. That should have told her, at least hinted to her of what he was about to say but still, the words caught her by surprise and she was speechless for a moment. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." And that was the most truthful answer she could give him. Harper was confused about how to feel when it came to Jasper, now distrusting of him, but as the guard in her faction she would definitely make it part of her job to be sure that Jasper did nothing stupid. Especially anything stupid that could put them all in danger. "You don't do anything stupid either, okay?" It wasn't like he had a clean slate, like all of them at one stage or another, Monty had done stupid things that had gotten himself into danger. Monty Green

[Monty Green]

"We'll keep each other safe" Monty tried to reassure her when she told him that she lacked faith in everyone else "we need each other..." if somebody in the group died then the remaining members would suffer and that would make them less likely to find a safe place for everyone to go when the radiation levels started to escalate. He couldn't remember ever seeing Harper cry like she was now, even after having her bone marrow extracted in Mount Weather, she'd been too weak to really break down. He'd made her laugh briefly, but it wasn't enough to keep her from crying now.

When she held his hand to her face, he forced a small smile despite the circumstances "I don't know what's going to happen when we're out there but I know that we're going to see each other again" it wasn't like he could be completely certain. Who knew what the future held, but it was something that he believed. He looked down at their hands as she lowered them from her face and linked her fingers with his. "It's only four weeks, it'll go by fast" he knew that it would be a worrying time for everyone but four weeks wasn't long, not if you really took the time to think about it.

When Harper promised to make sure that Jasper didn't do anything stupid, Monty nodded his head in acknowledgement. He knew that was probably the best that he could hope for, he wasn't going to ask Harper to go out of her way to look after Jasper, it wasn't her job to babysit him. "We'll see, that might not be something that I can promise" he joked, knowing that he was prone to getting himself into stupid situations. "I'll definitely try not to do anything stupid but we'll see what happens" he gave her hand a slight squeeze, it was meant to be a reassuring gesture but he wasn't sure if it helped to reassure her.

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG While Monty couldn't find it in herself to believe Monty's reassurance about his group needing to keep each other safe, she just nodded and let them move on from that. It wasn't worth pushing it and arguing with him about it, he was trying to make her feel better and as much as she liked to be real about things, maybe she just needed to let herself be comforted. It was a lot harder for her to keep quiet at the next thing he said, however, and she found herself frowning. If she could even look anymore sad in her state where she was just managing to get control of the worst of her tears. It was impossible for her to just nod along and accept the way he was trying to comfort and reassure her, as much as she wished she could. "You can't know that," she told him, her voice quiet enough that it was almost a whisper. "Anything could happen," she repeated.  At the very least, Harper could keep herself from verbalising any of those things that could go wrong. She wasn't sure she would even really be able to do that without breaking down worse than she already was. It was difficult to even think about, let along say and suddenly make it so much more real. Grounders, animals, radiation, cliffs...Harper shut her eyes tightly, willing herself not to start sobbing again. She didn't need to do that. She didn't want to spend this whole goodbye in tears. When she finally felt she could open her eyes again, she did so. "Four weeks," she repeated, letting it sink in just how long the trip would be. "Four whole weeks away from you," she whispered. She squeezed his hand and leaned up to press her lips to his. It was a short kiss even though Harper found it extremely difficult to pull back from it. She kept it short because Monty hadn't promised to not do anything stupid yet and she needed to hear him do that. Apparently he couldn't promise it. At least from his tone Harper could tell that he was trying to make a joke but she still felt worry building in her chest more than it had been before. She didn't need the thought of Monty trying to be the hero and getting himself into unneeded trouble. She really didn't. "Please don't do anything stupid," she said, almost begging. It was bad enough that Harper was going to be in the midst of any danger that happened but she was a guard and that's what she needed to do. Monty needed to keep himself safe and do his job. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, Monty." She placed the hand that wasn't holding Monty's onto his cheek, thumb lighting brushing over his skin as she looked into his eyes. "Monty, I-I love you." While those words hadn't been something she had planned to say, especially in the midst of a goodbye, she suddenly felt like she needed to say them. In case anything happened, he needed to know how she felt. Monty Green || Pressure is on Monty now... XD

[Monty Green]

It was obvious to Monty that Harper would not just accept his attempts at reassuring her, even if he wanted her to accept the reassurance and just let him leave. Saying goodbye to her was hard enough, he didn’t need her to make it any harder. “Hey, it’s going to be dangerous, but Earth is dangerous, every day we wake up down here and have no idea what’s going to happen” he told her, his gaze softening slightly as he tried a different tactic “is this really going to be any different? The only difference is that we’re not going to be together” he didn’t know if his words made sense, even to himself, his argument sounded weak. “If the worst happens, then it happens, but I promise that I’ll try my best not to get killed” the corners of his mouth twitched upwards in a small smile. He could tell that she was finding it harder than he was, he had to be optimistic, the alternative was to accept that he was going to die whilst on the journey and if he left with that attitude, then he definitely wouldn’t survive.

When Harper closed her eyes, Monty watched her in concern, scared that she was going to start sobbing again. He didn’t want her to cry, he knew that he’d told her that they weren’t going to die, but if he was being realistic, then he’d have to agree with Harper. Nobody knew if they were both going to survive the journey and if this was to be the last time that he was going to see her, he didn’t want his last memory of her to be of her crying. As she repeated how long the journey would take, Monty’s smile broadened “if it’s easier, you could think of it being more like twenty-eight days” sometimes thinking of it like that, made it seem like a shorter time than it actually was “don’t focus too much on how long it will take, just try to tackle each day individually” his advice was half-hearted, unsure if Harper would actually take it or just focus on the negatives. She was a survivor, he knew that and was confident that she wouldn’t let the idea of four weeks without him, weigh her down. Once they got going, he was sure that it would become easier, for both of them. He felt her hand squeeze his and before he could attempt to say anything else to reassure her, she leaned up and kissed him. Her lips had barely touched his before she pulled back again and he looked at her in confusion, the kiss itself wasn’t unexpected, it was how quickly she pulled away that surprised him.

The next moment, he found out why the moment had been so brief “Please don’t do anything stupid” she said to him and his smile faltered. He had been joking, of course he wasn’t going to do anything needlessly stupid. He’d just do what was required of him but if Harper needed him to actually say the words then he figured that he could say them if they gave her peace of mind. “I promise I won’t do anything stupid” he confirmed as her hand touched his face. When she told him that she wouldn’t know what she’d do if something happened to him, he scowled slightly “you’d move on” he told her firmly “It won’t come to that, but if anything happens to me, I want you to move on, look at Jasper… He hasn’t been the same since Maya…” he trailed off, leaving the rest go unspoken. He didn’t want Harper to end up like Jasper, he loved his friend but it hurt him to see him in so much pain every day, he wanted Harper to actually be happy, even if he wasn’t in her future. He was aware that his words sounded kind of harsh, grief wasn’t something that you could just shrug off and ignore, but he wanted what was best for her and he truly believed that the quicker she moved on from him, the happier she would be.

“I-I love you Monty” her words caught his attention and he jerked away from her quickly, his mind immediately coming up blank. He just stared at her, his eyes searching hers for a while, a few long moments of silence stretched out between them and he contemplated just walking away to join his group there and then, but something told him that, that would be the wrong thing to do. Say something you idiot! He internally screamed at himself, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he found that no words came out, he knew that she was waiting for an answer and he knew that she’d probably be hurt if he didn’t repeat the words. They were just three simple words, there was nothing terrifying about them but no matter how much he willed himself to say them, he just couldn’t. Eventually he did speak “...Thanks?” he muttered, it came out more as a question than an answer and he found himself cringing at how the word sounded as it left his mouth. Leaning forwards quickly, he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before gesturing behind him “Well, Um… We should get going, I mean… We don’t want to keep the others waiting”

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG Monty was trying extremely hard to reassure Harper, even if the arguments he was using weren't that good. Harper kept wanting to argue back, to tell him that they had no idea if things could be okay, that this was completely different to other situations that had been in, that it mattered that they were going to be separated. Yet, she found that it didn't matter anymore. The more she argued with Monty, the more excuses he had. She knew where she stood, she knew that she hated having to go with a different group to Monty but Monty was just going to keep looking on the bright side. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that would keep him alive. "Please try" was all she said in response. Maybe it wouldn't keep him alive because he wasn't worried about and ready for the dangers but Harper didn't want to think about that. On her complaint about the length of the trip, Monty was back with more encouragements. In Harper's opinion, twenty-eight days still sounded like a long time. They were twenty-eight days she would rather spend with Monty than separated from him. "Still a long time," she said, a weak smile on her lips. She wiped some wetness from her cheeks before she kissed him. The relief that Harper held at hearing Monty promise not to do something stupid had a real smile light up her face. Harper had no idea if she could actually believe him but the promise was all she could get from him then and she would take what she could get. The goodbye was a lot harder than she thought it would be and it was completely obvious that their personalities were clashing, leaving them both wanting to go about it differently. Harper was struggling with that and she was starting to realise that she wasn't going to get much from Monty in terms of what she would hope. She was going to get positive words and a lot of talk about not worrying, even if she didn't want to hear that. The smile quickly dropped from her lips, though, at the sight of a scowl on Monty's face. Harper was definitely taken back by the next words to come from his mouth and she found tears stinging at her eyes yet again. No, she wasn't going to cry. She didn't even want to think about what Monty had just said. Her comment had definitely not been said with expectation of a reply like the one Monty was giving. And she wanted to argue with him. To ask him how he could dare saying such a thing. Could he really just want her to move on and forget about him if something happened to him? Harper couldn't imagine being able to do that. She wasn't going to argue with him, not there, not then. If they both came back alive, she could bring the subject up again.  After those comments from Monty, Harper probably should have expected that he wouldn't react well to a confession of her love. She shouldn't have said it, in the heat of the moment, in the need for him to know how she felt in case something did go wrong in the next four weeks. When he flinched back, it was impossible not to notice. The palm of her hand was suddenly left cold and no longer touching his face. Monty was staring at her and Harper stared back as she tried to work out what he was feeling, why he had reacted so badly to those three words. She hadn't said them to him before but she thought that they wouldn't be unexpected by that point. Harper loved him, and she thought -- well, right now it felt like hoped -- that he loved her too. The silence continued and Harper found her hopes dying and her heart aching. Maybe Monty didn't feel the same way.  He said thanks. Harper told him that she loved him and Monty replied with thanks. Without any hesitation, Harper's gaze dropped from his and now it was her to turn to flinch back, doing so when he leaned forward to press a kiss to her cheek. He was quick to say that they should part ways and Harper was torn. She hurt and she wanted to slap Monty, or maybe kiss him, she wasn't sure but another part of her definitely wanted to leave him right now and to deal with her emotions and the hurt without him around. "Yep," she said, doing her best to keep the emotions out of her voice. When she went into battle mode, Harper could push back her emotions so they didn't hold her back. She had managed to do it in other situations, in ones where she wanted to stop something from happening but was scared. All she wanted to do then, with her emotions doing nothing but make her heart ache was go into battle mode. "Don't want to keep them waiting."  Harper looked up at Monty's face one last time, her own face as blank as she could make it. She might have leaned forward to kiss him then because it was going to be four weeks before she next saw him but she didn't. There was no way Harper could be sure that she wouldn't just slap him instead. While she wanted to do, she also didn't. It was just safer if she walked away for now. "Bye, Monty," she told him, lifting her hand in a half-hearted wave as she turned to walk over to where her faction was meeting. The next four weeks would be long. Monty Green || I think Harper just decided that the thread is over...?